Preparing for the rainy season usually involves swapping flip-flops and tank tops for boots and sweaters. But your wardrobe isn’t the only thing that needs a seasonal overhaul — cooler temperatures and dry air mean your skin care needs a makeover, too.

Cold weather can wreak havoc on sensitive, reactive skin. While you wouldn’t expect a retinol to be a sensitive-skin solution, Marie Veronique’s Gentle Retinol has a unique chemistry. It contains anti-inflammatory ingredients like green and white teas, and sodium salicylate to reduce redness. The serum also aims to improve skin’s water-barrier properties and strengthen its protective top layer. $110. Available at Credo Beauty, 2136 Fillmore St., S.F. and www.marieveronique.com.

Hydrating

When your skin is so dry you’re afraid a mere smile might make it crack, it’s time to bring in the big guns. Use a moisturizing cream mask like 100% Pure Aqua Boost Hydrating Mask as often as you need. Slather on this soothing blend of aloe, hyaluronic acid, rose hydrosol and cucumber juice before you shower, or leave it on as an overnight moisturizer. Don’t let the word “mask” fool you — it absorbs quickly and won’t clog pores. $32. Available at 100% Pure, 378 Santana Row, San Jose and www.100percentpure.com.

Balancing

Alcohol-based toners can strip and dry out the skin. Throw in gusty winds and dry air heaters and you’ve created a storm of skin issues. Opt for a more balancing and nurturing tonic, like Tammy Fender Bulgarian Rose Water, which is said to rejuvenate cells, tone and hydrate, strengthen weakened skin and repair tissue damage. Plus, it smells amazing. $65. Available at www.tammyfender.com.

Brightening

Forget coffee! An antioxidant-packed serum should be your skin’s morning drink. Try one with both anti-aging and brightening ingredients. Naturopathica Botanical Brightening Serum contains licorice root for brightening and anti-inflammatory benefits, ascorbic acid (also known as vitamin C), a powerful antioxidant that also helps reduce redness, and lactic acid, a gentle exfoliator that diminishes the appearance of fine lines — everything but the caffeine. $52. Available at www.naturopathica.com.

Smoothing

Put away summer’s light and airy moisturizer and swap in a time-release option that will give you all the benefits of a heavy cream but in a lighter formula. Odacité Olesomes Time-Release Delivery Crème utilizies olesomes, energy storehouses found naturally in seeds, aloe to hydrate and heal, antioxidant-rich tea extracts to protect your skin from free radicals, and calendula to soothe irritation. Bonus: It’s so smoothing, it gives skin a blurred appearance so you can skip primer, too. $68. Available at www.odacite.com.